The first thing to making a new change in one's life is determination. The second is finding out the cause of why things aren't going well. Once these two are settled, things would start coming back to good shape.
Sometimes, the friends we keep determines what would become of us. Sincerely, some people might say, "I know how to cope with them" it is not always like that because by the time they influence and implicate you, one would not know at first.
I love your steps to overcoming your challenges in school which brought improvement in your academics.